Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 525 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,006 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $19,464,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $58.65 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.96.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.